


did it hurt?

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Short One Shot, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-29 23:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14483985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Tony Stark asks a question, but there is no one there to answer.





	did it hurt?

Titan was a sprawling horizon of dust and empty metal, a fallen world of ghosts and ruin.  His blood dried maroon and black on the barren soil, assurance that he, at least, was still alive.

Tony’s feet dragged in his mangled boots as he stepped, one foot in front of the other, towards Quill’s ship.  His side seared.  What was that?  Liver?  Spleen?  Something important.  Probably several somethings important.  He winced, leaning against his remaining companion.

“This was the only way, Strange?” he asked hoarsely.

The alien Nebula, or cyborg – he wasn’t quite sure – gave him a dead-eyed look.  “If this was your friend’s plan, he failed the entire galaxy.”  She shook her head, helping him navigate an area of tumbled rubble.  “We have all failed.  We have lost  _everything.”_

 _“_ You can say that again,” Tony mumbled.  The dust puffed beneath his boots, clouds of reddish-brown, and for a moment he was seized with terror.  

_Was this where –_

He stared around, wild-eyed.  No.  No, it hadn’t been here.  It’d been the other way.  He wasn’t walking over where –  He tried to breathe, fighting the panic at the back of his throat.

“What is there to be done now?” asked Nebula, stopping in front of Quill’s ship.  She let him go and leaned against the ship in exhaustion, head bowed, hands on her knees.

Tony gazed at the waiting ship.  He knew there were a million questions to be answered.  Could this be undone?  Could there still be people who needed help?  Was Pepper –?  Was there even an Earth to go home to?  Was there still anything worth fighting for?

A million questions, and right then, blood slicking his suit, dust in his throat, he only had one.

One question, burning within him, begging to be asked; yet there was no one who could respond.  No brave, scared kid clawing at his shoulders, holding Tony tight like maybe, just maybe, he could save him.   _I don’t want to go._

He gazed at the dust staining his hands, tasted it at the corners of his lips, mixed with salt.  And he wondered,  _Did it hurt, kid?_

He closed his fists, closed his eyes, and Titan answered him with silence.

**Author's Note:**

> I made myself tear up with this, so I hope it works on you too!


End file.
